SPEAKERS

Bidemi Zakariyau

Bidemi Zakariyau is the Founder & CEO of LSF|PR, a full service public relations agency with core competencies in corporate communications, consumer and lifestyle brands.

Awarded the Best Law Student during her Business Foundation degree at Brooke House College, Leicestershire, England, Bidemi went on to study Law at the University of Sheffield. After university she interned at two top tier law firms in Lagos, Nigeria, in the same year she enrolled at the Nigerian Law School.

While at law school, Bidemi founded LSF|PR, the agency’s clients include some of the best global and local brands including Philips, Unilever, Branch, Baker Hughes (a GE Company), TREXM Oil and Gas Services, Reckitt-Benckiser, Remy-Cointreau and many more.

Under Bidemi’s leadership, LSF|PR received a Diamond SABRE (2019), Certificate of Excellence (Gold) and is currently shortlisted for the Best campaign in Africa (Platinum Category), and Superior Achievement for Brand Building (Diamond Category, SABRE Awards, EMEA). In 2018 LSF|PR received a certificate of excellence in the gold category. The SABRE’s are the worlds biggest PR awards programme, dedicated to benchmarking the best PR work across the globe. In December 2018, the agency won the PR Campaign of the Year hosted by the African PR Excellence Awards in Dublin, Ireland.

Bidemi has been listed by Forbes Africa as one of the innovators and game-changers in business on the prestigious 30 Under 30 list (2018), African Woman Leader (CMO Asia), Rising PR Practitioner by the Nigerian Institute of public Relations – Lagos Chapter (2017). In 2016 she won the Future Awards Africa for Media Enterprise.

In 2017, she launched an online magazine – The Luxe Digest, with the aim of playing a key role in altering the perception of Africa and fostering Pan-Africanism.

Bidemi is a member of The Nigerian Bar Association and The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations. She is an advisory board member of Réle, a contemporary art gallery in Lagos and Jendaya, a luxury e-commerce platform.

Bidemi runs a mentorship programme for women between the ages of 18-30 and a career development programme for entry level job seekers.

Mandy Kojetin

Mandy Kojetin has more than 20 years consulting experience. She has wide experience in B2B and B2C consulting across a number of sectors including financial services, technology, engineering, manufacturing, legal, gaming and food, with a particular focus in conceptualising and executing large-scale integrated communications programmes for multinationals and corporates operating in and across Africa.

She has held executive positions at leading PR agencies and previously led the Standard Bank account, one of the largest PR accounts in the country at the time. Most recently Mandy joined Atmosphere to head up their corporate unit in Johannesburg and has significantly grown the portfolio of clients which includes Siemens, Cisco, mobile operator Cell C and delivered some award winning work.

Mandy has a special interest in measurement and completed the AMEC (Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Communications) International Certificate in Measurement and Evaluation. She is the first South African and African to hold the qualification based on the globally recognised best practice Integrated Measurement Framework launched by AMEC in 2016.

Cynthia Eyram Ofori-Dwumfuo

PR Business Lead, Ogilvy in Ghana and West Africa

Cynthia is in charge of growing Ogilvy’s PR reach within Ghana and West Africa.

Since 2007, Cynthia has had a colourful and experience-laden marketing communications career spanning Africa, USA and UK; covering strategic & corporate communications, media & government relations, public affairs, CSR,

She has led teams with portfolios covering West and Central Africa for multinationals in technology, FMCG, mining, healthcare, aviation, tourism, telcos, F&B, to international organisations; government agencies and non-profits.

Under Cynthia’s leadership, her agencies have won or been nominated for local and international awards including African and EMEA SABRES, Gong Gongs, and PR Excellence awards.

Cynthia once taught freshman university students (USA) and is published in the Journal of College & University Student Housing, (USA). She’s presented at a PR Society of America regional conference and given a TEDx Talk (USA) on challenging stereotypes of Africa.

With a Bachelor’s in Economics from KNUST, Ghana, Cynthia has a Master’s in Professional Communications from Clemson University, USA.

Cynthia co-founded Ghana’s first private basketball league, and in her spare time leads communications for the local chapter of TED Global, TEDxAccra and has organised various TED conferences with the team.

Cynthia believes great communicators are those who think broadly; adapt easily; interpret “glocally”; know what and who is current; and can tell a compelling story.

Jordan RittenberryCEO, Edelman Africa

Jordan Rittenberry serves as the CEO of Edelman Africa. Based in Johannesburg, he oversees the firm’s work across the continent and has supported a number of blue chip brands and multinational corporations. Working to provide its clients with a pan-African offering, Edelman has executed programmes in more than 30 African markets over the last two years.

Since he arrived in Africa nearly four years ago, Edelman has quickly grown to become one of the foremost communications agencies in Africa.

An Edelman veteran with more than a decade of service, Rittenberry has held numerous leadership positions at the firm. Prior to his role in Africa, Rittenberry lead Edelman’s Technology & Business Marketing practice in the firm’s co-headquarters in Chicago, where he played a lead role on a number of the agency’s key accounts, crossing both corporate and consumer-facing programmes. He has also served as the client relationship manager for multiple global engagements across some of the firm’s largest brands.

Rittenberry earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations/advertising and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Houston.

KAMAL TAIBI

Founder and CEO StratëusGroup

Kamal Taïbi founded StratëusGroup, one of the leading firms in public relations, public affairs and strategic communications in North Africa, in 2010. According to The Holmes Report’s EMEA Consultancy Report Card, “StratëusGroup has quickly established itself as one of the most capable and thoughtful independent firms in the fast North Africa region”.

Leading an international team of specialists active – and on the ground – in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Senegal and other leading markets in North and West Africa, Kamal has used his experience of over fifteen years in public affairs, public relations and communications to build an organization that has become synonymous with excellence and prestige.

Throughout these years in the industry, Kamal advised leading multinationals and large local organizations in sectors such as telecoms, finance, automotive, energy, mining and pharmaceuticals on diverse strategic issues. He also initiated and helped set up four industry coalitions to communicate more effectively.

Kamal also advised the Government on communications issues related to transition in relation to Budget and other issues. In 2013 he has served as communications counsel to Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finances.

He is a Board member of PRCA Mena (the Middle East and North African branch of the UK based Public Relations Consultants Association) and its representative in North Africa Region. He has been called to speak on the industry in many occasions and places around the world. He also serves as a Board member of the Commerce and Services Federation at the CGEM (The Moroccan Employers body), and a founding member of Tanmia.ma – helping local NGOs with the use of ICT.

Paul Holmes

Founder and Chair of The Holmes Group

Paul Holmes, founder and chair of The Holmes Group, has been writing about public relations for more than 25 years. Paul began his career in local newspapers in the north of England and also worked for a newspaper group in South London before joining PR Week as news editor in 1985.

In 1987 he moved to New York to launch the short-lived US edition of that publication, and after that project came to an inglorious end worked with Adweek and Adweek’s Marketing Week for a year.

In 1989, he launched his own company, initially publishing Inside PR, and later Reputation Management magazine, both focused on providing analysis of critical trends and issues in the public relations industry. He created the annual Public Relations Agency Report Card, which included profiles of the leading PR firms in the US, and the Creativity in Public Relations Awards, which grew to become that largest in North America.

Early in 2000, Holmes launched The Holmes Group, which provides knowledge and insight to public relations professionals across a variety of platforms, including a website, an e-newsletter, events, printed reports, research and consulting assignments, and the SABRE Awards competition. The group’s flagship title, The Holmes Report, covers the public relations business in the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and the Asia-Pacific region. In 2011, Paul was inducted into the ICCO Hall of Fame.

Matt Cartmell

Deputy Director General, PRCA

Matt Cartmell is the Deputy Director General of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), the membership body that represents in excess of 30,000 PR practitioners across the UK, MENA, and Southeast Asia. The PRCA exists to raise standards in PR and communications, providing members with industry data, facilitating the sharing of communications best practice, and creating networking opportunities. Cartmell has led communications, marketing, and events at the association for six years, before which he was the UK News Editor at PRWeek, where he covered breaking stories about the business of PR and communications. A former PR agency consultant, Cartmell has 20 years of experience in news, writing, and story development.

Nick Wachira

LEKHA SEEBALUCK

Managing Director of Blast BCW, Mauritius

Lekha Seebaluck is the Managing Director of Blast BCW in Mauritius and provides strategic directions for local private and public organizations as well as international brands.

Joining the agency in 2006, a one-person outfit at that time, Lekha has contributed in putting together a dedicated young team of PR professionals assisting clients in their communication needs. Today, Blast is an established communication agency and has won several international accolades and widespread regional recognition.

Lekha began her exposure in the field of communications by learning the ropes as a reporter, then as content developer for an interactive web-based project to finally joining the corporate world, which offered a brand-new scene and opportunities for applications of corporate strategies.

Lekha holds a Master’s degree in Corporate Communications & Reputation Management from the University of Manchester, UK. She is also a part-time lecturer at the University of Mauritius where she humbly contributes to the academic and professional development of rising talents.